Bonus Post--Finished Shawl

Even though I had a previous post today and have picked up another project, I wanted to share some preliminary pictures of Sandy's Traveling Woman Shawl.

Last night, I only had a wee bit of yarn before beginning the bind off. So I wound the yarn I had dug out of my stash to use for the final cast off only.

Gertrude graciously consented to model. She feels the heat much less than I do. Of course it needs blocking and I have already passed along the blocking frame boards to Sandy to see if Robin could make a frame.

A good firm blocking should work its usual magic, accenting the points and opening the lace.

I couldn't resist a quick try on. Even if the wool room doesn't get the benefit of the air conditioning.

And now on to some of my previously started projects.

Posted with Blogsy

In Memory of Those Who Gave All

In my family tree we have quite a few veterans. Probably even some I have not confirmed as having served. The veterans outnumber the fallen, but on this Memorial Day, when we honor the fallen, I would like to mention a couple from my mothers branch of the family tree who did make the ultimate sacrifice during war.

Although he is listed in the letter above as Paul Gilbert, his name was really Paul Davis. After GGrandma Ada Samis Gilbert died, GGrampa Roy married her sister Delia whose husband had died. Her son Paul enlisted as Gilbert instead of Davis, honoring GGrampa but also causing me great difficulty finding military information on him. As you can read, he died during World War II, on October 18, 1944 in Lorraine, France. He has a grave marker with his brother and parents in Michigan. I believe his body was returned after the war and is indeed buried there. I don't know if he was a part of D Day. But I do remember watching a movie about the landing, or perhaps a documentary. My mother mentioned something about wondering if cousin Paul was there. Either way, he was in the thick of battle. And I salute him.

The other member of my family who fell in battle is Gilbert Samis.

Gilbert Samis is a double cousin. His mother Sadie was my GGrampa Roy's sister and his father Frank was the brother of GGreat Grandma Ada, and Delia of course. According to a news clipping he fought in Mexico during the Spanish American War. He came home to help his father run a restaurant, but enlisted in February 1917 once again. He was wounded in battle at Chateau Thierry, France, recovered and returned to action. Sadly, just over a month before the Armistice, he was wounded again at Arogonne Forest in France and died of his wounds on October 28; just two weeks before the war ended, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. I have always been so saddened by those who died within days of the end of war.

So in memory of these two family members as well as all the others who gave their lives, I give a heartfelt, humble thank you.

Posted with Blogsy

No Time To Post

No blogging today. I am in the middle of casting off Sandy's Traveling Woman.

More tomorrow.

Posted with Blogsy

Knitting Through the Heat

Even in a heat wave, the knitting must go on. On Sandy's Traveling Woman Shawl, I have five rows left, then bind off. And only three of the rows are the right side, and need to be watched closely. In this heat, a large fuzzy wool shawl is more of a blast oven on the lap than two cats. I can hardly wait to be done. (Praise the Lord for air conditioning!)

But, the caked yarn is dwindling, as you can see below. I raided the stash (such a useful thing, a stash), and found some of my handspun Leicester long wool blend. The color is close as shown in the twisted skein, although it is not quite as fuzzy. If necessary, it will be a close enough match to finish the shawl. I think my yarn may have more of a sheen to it, just a bit.

And with the end of this shawl in sight, startitis may be rearing its head.

In spite of all the projects on needles already, I may have started something with the above yarn.

Posted with Blogsy

Knitting Around Obstacles

This shows why my knitting volume has slowed some recently. Lewie seems to feel the best place to rest is either on my shoulder, with his tail in my face or on my chest on top of any knitting. Not only does he interfere with the knitting, but he is a little blast furnace!

In spite of all that I managed to finish the last repeat of chart A on Sandy's Traveling Woman shawl.

Working on this is also like having a blast furnace on my lap. The handspun Romney/Leister wool will certainly be warm enough for an Alaskan cruise. And as you can see, I have started the final chart.

Barely started, but started nonetheless. And now we have the heat I need to knit through. I need to turn on the AC ASAP.

Posted with Blogsy

And Then There Were Ten

Little Dizzy is no more; my flock is down to ten.

My "challenged" chicken passed away today while I was spending the day with my Little Farmer. I was only slightly surprised, as she had not progressed as well as the others. Maybe she was affected early on by the incubator malfunction. (Which was why I got five in the first batch and not 20). But she had, as I mentioned recently, begun to make her way back into the coop at night. But it is just speculation as to the cause.

One of the original five, Dizzy was one of the two solid black ones. The one with the white blaze on her/his head became Rocky.

I guess maybe Other One, as the sole remaining black chicken, will need a different name. Maybe Inky, or Cinder Ella. Yea, I think I like that: Cinder Ella.

Posted with Blogsy

Ready to Go

Vacuuming done? Check.
Supper finished? Check.
New yarn for Traveling Woman Shawl? Check.

Then I guess it is time to get off FaceBook and stuff and start knitting.

Posted with Blogsy

Ear Pouffs and Shawls. (Aka: Chicks and Knits)

In my study of chickens and breeds, I learned that one of the fascinating things about the Aurancana breed is that they have pouffy feathers by their ears and no tails. While my girls all seem to have tails, I noticed recently that both my purchased Amerucanas and the crosses that were hatched by a friend's friend have little pouffs of feathers by their ears. Even the two solid black girls have ear pouffs. As they get more feathers, the pouffs just started to show. They move too much for pictures but the pouffs are there.

I also noticed that "the other black one" (not Dizzy, the other one) has developed a deep green sheen to her black feathers. Maybe some Maran in the mix?

I have spent some time with my Tapestry Hitchhiker.

The subtleties of shades and sparkles just will not photograph, but I do like the way it looks in real life. I may get the rest of the yarn for the Traveling Woman soon, so I thought I would spend some quality time with my Hitchhiker in the meantime.

And...I may have accidently ordered some yarn for a baby blanket. Oops.

Posted with Blogsy

Busy Busy

Since I have essentially ran out of yarn for Sandy's Traveling Woman, I have been spending some time on my Tapestry Hitchhiker.

Love the sparkles.

But before that I paid a visit to my Aunt Glenna. She wasn't in her room when I got there, so I also had time to visit a cousin and her husband who live just down the hall from our aunt. After Aunt Glenna was done hiking the halls, we went back to her room for a rousing game of Yatzee.

This time I managed to eke out a win. Visiting her seems to involve a lot of math.

Home at the coop, the girls were enjoying the early sun, as well as the grass I tossed in to entertain them.

I also spent some time in the Ravelry black hole, looking at patterns too. (Never mind the unfinished projects sitting around.). I may need a baby blanket again soon. I'm thinking, maybe, the Ten Stitch Blanket.

Posted with Blogsy

Moving Along

My knitting has been moving right along. I am about ready for the final ball of yarn as I work on the final pattern repeat. I may need to get in contact with the recipient to see if it has been wound yet.

Also on the moving along theme, Little Farmer was full of the brumm, brumm, brumm engine noises yesterday. You can just see his cheeks puffed to make the noises while playing with his truck.

Brumm, brumm, brumm.

Posted with Blogsy

Knit Nite Progress

Despite a gloomy rainy evening, Knit Nite went on. We moved into the nursery, as the table in the Sunday School room where we normally met had been taken for the church yard sale and was laden down with yard sale goodies.

The nursery had a lovely view, with this dogwood in the front.

I have just one more row left in the third pattern repeat of Sandy's Traveling Woman shawl. And the second ball of yarn will give me a good dent on the fourth and final repeat. Then I will just need the 18 row final edging and bind off! The final ball will be needed before then.

I think it is coming along nicely.

My traveling project is the Tapestry Hitchhiker. Since I had a doctor appointment as well as a blood test, I did get some time to work on it this week.

The colors don't show much here, with the light background washing it out. I do like the eyelets of this version though. I will try to get another photo, where the color and the metallic bits show up better.

Posted with Blogsy

Happy Farm News

Yesterday, Mama Kitty brought her kitties out to meet the public.

She has been keeping them near the hole in the door to the basement so they can hide quickly, if need be. Aren't they cute?

Obviously Papa is the only yellow Tom we have left, Pinky. (So called because he is a faded reddish color.)

I love little kitties. Good thing, I noticed that Loudmouth is starting to bulge.

Posted with Blogsy

Knitting, Studying, and Chickens

A bit of knitting going on, as I steam through the third pattern repeat. The picture below is a week or so ago so there as been a lot of progress since then.

There as also been a bit of work on the Tapestry Hitchhiker since I had a couple visits to the doctors office this week. (Not to worry..checkup and blood tests.) I haven't got a picture of that though. I will take and post one soon.

Life goes on. Bible study ended for the year, until September. What a blessing that has been this year. Studying Daniel and Revelations really reinforced the knowledge that "there is a God in heaven, and He is in control." It really is the only thing that has gotten me through the primary season without completely losing my sanity. I am sure to be clinging to that through the election.

And now I must be running out to catch Dizzy. She still can't manage to get up the ramp and into the coop by herself.

Posted with Blogsy

A Little Feather

While cleaning the coop today, as the girls frolicked in their pen, I found this.

A little feather, maybe 3 inches long. Gray/black little feather. Could it be from little Dizzy, who spends most of her time in the coop? It can't be from Rocky as it has no bars. And of course not Lucy or Rita, the two "red heads".

I guess it will be forever a mystery. I hope whoever she is doesn't go bald. Tonight is their first night without the heat lamp.

Posted with Blogsy

Further Adventures of the World's Most Handsome Grandchild

Wednesday is the day this Grammy spends the day with her Little Farmer. He has become quite accomplished at squirming his way onto the couch in the last week or so.

Following his father's tradition in adding to my gray hair, he is not quite as proficient in getting off again.

Lunch time is Funtime, now that he is better able to manage his little fork.

Mmmmmm! Spaghetti!

Sometimes though you still need to push in that last little bit. That's what fingers are for, right?

And if you can't make out the shirt, it says "Best Son Ever." The same goes for grandson too.

Posted with Blogsy

Powerful!

I have been watching a documentary on Turner Classic Movies about the the Europeans film artists who were exiled from Germany and other countries in the thirties as Hitler came to power. It is really moving and I didn't realize a lot of familiar names and faces were among them.

One example...Billy Wilder. I knew he was a great director, and lead many of my favorite films. Not only was he an European exhile, but three quarters of his family died in Auschwitz. It's sad that so many of these actors, directors, composers and musicians were forced from their homes, fleeing for their lives. Most never reaching the status that they held in their homelands.

And then there was Peter Lorre, Marlena Dietrich, Ernst Lubitsch, Bela Lugosi, Felix Bressart, Paul Henried, S.K. Sakhalin and so many more. Those names may not mean much to many people, but to me they are movie gold. And how our classic movies in the US were enriched by their presence.

------

And now, on to Casablanca, which featured many of those same exhiles in small background roles.

Now, after that heaviness, here is the promise of May flowers.

My lilac bush has buds just waiting to pop later this month.

Posted with Blogsy